I first fell in love with the story of Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe as a seven year old when my family watched Anne of Green Gables on The Disney Channel. I read the books as quickly as I could, and I make an effort to re-read the books every 2 or 3 years. Even at 25, I find myself laughing at the same parts, crying at the same parts, and wishing that Anne would just accept Gilbert's proposal the first time he asks her. Every time I finish Rilla of Ingleside (book 8), I wish that Lucy M. Montgomery had just written one more book so that the story could continue...
The story did continue in 2000 with the third installment of Kevin Sullivan's Anne films. However, this one was a complete departure from the story that I and little girls around the world had grown to love. Where the first two movies were laden with episodes from the books, the third movie had nothing in common with the books at all. Were we supposed to ignore the fact that by the time WWI rolled around, Anne's CHILDREN were old enough to fight? According to Sullivan, while the rest of the world moved ahead about 20 years from the time of the bridge scene to the time the third film opens, Avonlea was stuck in a timewarp.
Sullivan should have realized that the people who would have waited for a third film after 15 years were the ones who truly loved the Anne story. While the movie is able stand on its own as a love story between a woman named Anne and a man named Gilbert, those of us who waited deserved a continuation of the story L. M. Montgomery wrote. Keeping close to the the first four books served Sullivan well when putting together the first two movies. I for one would have loved to have met Captain Jim, Susan, and old Dr. Blythe; to be a part of a wedding that I have imagined from my childhood; and to see Anne and Gil experience the joys and sorrows of their House of Dreams. Sullivan's decision to completely ignore the works of L. M. Montgomery is an insult to her memory, her work, and her fans.
